Verliebt 1912

Christian Rohlfs made this print, Verliebt, sometime in his life, using woodcut. The flat red background is punctuated by the staccato of small circles, like bursts of feeling. Rohlfs really gets the most out of this basic contrast of red and white. Look at the way the figures are rendered with a thin white line, which varies in thickness and density like the human figures. It’s not trying to be realistic. It's more about the feeling of a body, maybe how awkward it can be to inhabit one’s own skin. It's all about the process of inking the block, and then pressing it down, to get that relief. It almost seems like a quick gesture, but I’m sure it wasn't. I think about how this almost slapdash, but intentional approach compares to someone like Gauguin, another artist who played with woodcuts, and that idea of embracing imperfection. Art's not about perfection, it's about expression.